Alan Arnette's bloghttp://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/blog/90
enShouting from Mountain Topshttp://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/blog/shouting-mountain-tops
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/sites/default/files/Alan%20on%20Mountain.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>May is a special month for me: Everest and Mother&rsquo;s Day. The connection is significant.</p>
<p>I summited Everest in May and Mother&rsquo;s Day, well, it is Mother&#39;s Day.</p>
<p>Ida Arnette, my mom, was the memory keeper for her extended family. With my mom&rsquo;s eight brothers and sisters, there was a lot to track.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mom did it all while raising two sons, working full time&nbsp;and still finding time to&nbsp;cook amazing holiday dinners and an out-of-this world pecan pie.</p>
<p>So the day my mom looked up from her steaming coffee cup and said with a look I will never forget, &ldquo;Now, who are you again?&rdquo; was a day, a moment, I will never forget.</p>
<p>Alzheimer&rsquo;s took my mom&rsquo;s life and changed mine forever.&nbsp;</p>
<p>As I learned about the disease, I became frustrated, angry and eventually motivated to do something&nbsp;about it -- if not for my mom, then for future generations.</p>
<p>I pledged to literally and figuratively scream from the mountain tops that Alzheimer&rsquo;s is a disease that must be stopped, that caregivers must receive more support, and that the general public must gain a deeper understanding of the impact of Alzheimer&#39;s.</p>
<p>With that mission, I went on to accomplish something few people have even attempted: I climbed the highest peak on each of the 7 continents in under a year in an effort to raise awareness about this terrible disease.</p>
<p>Almost two years ago this month, in pursuit of that goal, I sent my message of hope, need and urgency from the summit of Mt. Everest.</p>
<p>My voice cracked as I dedicated that summit to my mom, my two aunts and the millions of individuals with Alzheimer&#39;s and their caregivers around the world. I reached 30 million people with my campaign and raised significant funds for research.</p>
<p>But it is not enough.</p>
<p>Today, we are making progress with key understandings of the disease brought about through research. Even though the path is rough, the private sector is not giving up.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But it is not enough.</p>
<p>It will take an unprecedented partnership between private and public resources to slow Alzheimer&#39;s and to find a cure. It will take even more work to solve the growing crisis facing caregivers.</p>
<p>Please join me&nbsp;in&nbsp;sending a message to our leaders through USAgainstAlzheimer&rsquo;s. Let&rsquo;s tell them that now is the time to act, and that they must take the steps needed to fund Alzheimer&rsquo;s research at the levels laid out in President Obama&rsquo;s budget, to fulfill the promise of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer&rsquo;s Disease.</p>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-exclude-from-most-popular field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Include or Exclude from most popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Include</div></div></div>Fri, 10 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000Alan Arnette1344 at http://www.usagainstalzheimers.orghttp://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/blog/shouting-mountain-tops#comments